Matanzas holds off Seabreeze 54-51 to end Sandcrabs' 10-game win streak

Seabreeze's streak began and ended in games against the Pirates.

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Seabreeze’s 76-55 victory over Matanzas on Dec. 1 was a key moment of the season — for both teams. It began a 10-game winning streak for the Sandcrabs, and it sent the Pirates back to the drawing board.

Matanzas showed how far it has come since then with a 54-51 victory over Seabreeze to end the Sandcrabs' streak at the Kiwanis Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 3, at the Pirates’ gym.

“I just remember, this was one of our first bad losses when we were at their place that brought us back to the drawing board,” Matanzas coach Eric Guerrero said. “We said, ‘Hey, we got to start focusing on the little things to win games.’”

The Pirates improved to 5-6, while the Sandcrabs fell to 11-3. Matanzas sophomores Jayden McCoy (18 points), C.J. Giles (15 points) and Jamel Guerrero (10 points) combined to score 43 of the team’s 54 points.

Matanzas hit six 3-pointers including a long buzzer beater by Giles at the end of the second quarter to tie the score at 26. Seabreeze’s Jeremiah Outler, who led all scorers with 21 points, hit a buzzer beater of his own, draining a shot from beyond half court at the end of the third quarter.

Outler, who hit five 3-pointers in the game, missed a 3 in final seconds that would have tied the score.

“We knew they was going to be prepared to play,”  Seabreeze coach Ray Gaines said. “They were upset that we beat them the first time by 20, so we expected it, but we didn't play our best.”

Gaines said the Sandcrabs got the shot they wanted from Outler, who had his best-shooting night of the season. But it just didn’t fall.

“Our best player had a shot at the 3. He already went 5-for-7 (from 3-point range), so that’s the shot we wanted. So, we can live with that,” Gaines said.

Christian Simmons added 15 points for Seabreeze, while AJ Brown scored 10 points.

The Pirates showed Seabreeze a different look in this game with a zone defense, and although the Sandcrabs hit eight 3-pointers, the Pirates limited Seabreeze's points in the paint.

“We're primarily a man-to-man team,” Guerrero said. “But we have to give teams a different look, so we went zone. I think we had a great defensive effort with our rotation and boxing out, because we lack rebounding as a team, and I think we fixed those things. And it showed from losing to them by 20, to beating them by three.”

Matanzas started slow, scoring just five points in the first quarter, but Giles’ second-quarter buzzer beater gave the Pirates a spark heading into the second half, the sophomore guard said.

“We were in the locker room, happy and energetic,” Giles said. “So that definitely sparked us a lot.”

Giles said the difference in this game from the first time Matanzas faced Seabreeze was trust.

“We played together more, and our our defense was way better this game — we talked a lot,” Giles said. “Trust is a big thing. We trust each other to hit good shots, big shots.”

Seabreeze stretched its winning streak to 10 games with a 58-49 win over Menendez on the first day of the Kiwanis Invitational on Jan. 2. Brown scored 19 points, while Outler and Jordan Anthony scored 15 and 13, respectively. Matanzas fell to DeLand 53-44 on Day 1 of the Invitational.

While Eric Guerrero said the win over Seabreeze could be a momentum builder for his young squad, Gaines said the loss might have a positive effect for his squad as well.

“Losses are never good,” Gaines said. “But it also gives us a chance to get the chip back on our shoulder. We’ve been kind of gliding through for the last 10 games. AJ said it: We’ve gotten so used to winning that we come out a little lackadaisical and we're not as aggressive. So this is just going to put the chip back on our shoulder. So, we'll be OK.”

 

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